Is it true that you cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery if you
have a tattoo?
Judaism teaches us that our bodies belong, as do all parts of
nature, to God. They are on loan to us and we are responsible
for caring for them. Any sort of mutilation of the body is, therefore,
prohibited. Tattooing is prohibited, as is scarring, and some
forms of elective cosmetic surgery.
There are criminal offenses that are so heinous as to bar someone
from being buried in the Jewish cemetery. Despite the persistence
of a myth to the contrary, a tattoo is not one of those offenses.
There is no prohibition against burying someone with a tattoo
in the Jewish cemetery.
Written by Rabbi Bruce L. Gottlieb, Sinai Temple, Michigan City,
IN
Is it true that you cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery if you
have a tattoo? 
Judaism teaches us that our bodies belong, as do all parts of
nature, to God. They are on loan to us and we are responsible
for caring for them. Any sort of mutilation of the body is, therefore,
prohibited. Tattooing is prohibited, as is scarring, and some
forms of elective cosmetic surgery.
